Sensitivity to Love
by tragiang
Summary: She finds herself trying hard to adjust to her new school, due to her inability to make facial expressions. Having to go through the numerous obstacles, troubles, and scenarios to be accepted, she knew it was for the best. It was until she met Mikan.
1. Prologue

**A/N**: _Komon_ is the most informal kind of a silky kimono, with a print that covers the whole clothing in no particular direction or layout. The design itself can be in any pattern or weave. They can be worn at home, shopping, etc._  
_

* * *

**Prologue**

_If father knew, he would have done something to prevent this from happening to me. It is growing, the distance between him and me. I need to get away from them--these people who are taking me somewhere else than home. I think their mission involved myself somehow... As they forced me to go. Before heading inside, I thought about father and what he would have done.  
_

In a black vehicle with four other people, the kidnapped child sat there with a blank expression. However, the atmosphere was darkening, almost as dark as an abyss. Having to be alone in the backseat of the car with them, there was sudden surge to hug oneself. The child felt an odd aura from each kidnapper, there was much surrounding them that it would frighten anyone.

"Hey, quit playing with his hair!" said the one who had catlike eyes. He was glaring at the person beside him. He thought it was annoying, especially when they decided to have the child sit on his lap. The the car could only fit so many. "He doesn't like it, you transvestite!"

"Hayate, you silly, the child is a girl! And she looks adorable with ponytails!" His ladylike fingers continued to twirl, and curl the short strands as he smiled. He had a womanly appearance, but that did not bother the kid at all. "Actually, I want her to have braids instead!"

"Should I sit between the two of them?" She looked over to her right, her attention focusing at the person in the front seat. He had his whole face was partly covered in bandages, as if his injury was serious. Not that the child knew, or remember since the kidnap was a blur to her.

_I sat there quietly, trying to understand what was going on. Being like father was hard work. Because I was tempted enough to ask Hayate, who I am assuming is his name, if I looked cute. Or at least find a mirror to see if that person beside us was right. However, it was by instinct that I did not speak. _

Gates began to open in front of the black car, as the vehicle blended well in the midnight. She noticed that the wheels were moving slower than before, and by then it came to a halt. Being led out of the car by the driver with his cold hands, her fear did not disappear, as much as the child wanted to trust him. She stood there watching the gates from before, as they begin to close.

"You're not thinking of escaping, are you?" it was a sudden whisper in her ear, as she turned around immediately. He wore a white mask that hid half of his face, that masked his eyes from her. She wanted to remove it, out of curiosity at first, but dared not to after having second thoughts. "You will like it here, at Alice Academy."

"Why did you take me here? Is father here?" She muttered to herself, hoping that nobody had heard her say that. Her attention went back to the driver, but once more a few more words came out of her mouth. "Can I see him? Where is he?"

"That will have to depend on you, of course." He smirked, his words still sounding sly. She waited for him to finish off his sentence, since the silence made it understandable for the man to continue. "Do make the right choices now."

_It surprised me that there was a girl, being carried by the same man who is leading me somewhere. He was also taking us away, from the other two who were still arguing about of who should take me and, or the girl called Nobara. Before we left, the driver handed me an envelope and told me to give it to the person who is in charge of where we were heading to. I held it tightly, but it still flew out of my hands and I had to go grab it._

For the fourth time, the envelope managed to leave her hands. She ended up having to chase after it again, until it landed perfectly in front of a door of a large building with many windows. The child spun around to ask the man if they were at the right place, but he was no longer there, he had disappeared with the girl in his arms. She swung herself back at the entrance, her mind told her to knock, so she did.

"What is this? A new student out of the blue?" a machine blurted out, when it opened the door. In its arms were children, tugging onto the robot as if they were scared of what was in front of them. "Why are you here? Where is your envelope?"

"I don't know where I am, but do you know what Alice Academy is?" the child replied, but the robot was not listening. It took the envelope from her, then it ripped off the seal and pulled out the letter. She took a pause, because she was waiting for the machine to finish reading it. "He said I will like it there, is that true?"

"Call me, Takahashi. Come with me if you want to sleep." the robot advised, while getting the children back into their rooms. The kid hurried to close the door behind her, as she caught up with the robotic thing. "My dear, you should switch out of those. Let me get you something nicer. "

"Huh? What does she mean?" She realized that the robot was referring to her _komon_, it was dirtied by mud and stains. Her bare feet were also covered in dried mud, with a few scratches and cuts here and there. "Oh no, what should I do? Will I get it back it?"

_I shamelessly changed in front of the robot in the hallway and handed her the clothing, in exchange for another set of clothes. Takahashi left, sighing at my disgraceful action. I should have felt ashamed for undressing in front of the children, who had to hide their eyes. After that, they clung onto the robot more and followed it to the laundry room. But if there was anything to be shameful of, it was not to be yourself._

She began to walk around by herself, having to feel somewhat lost when she was standing there alone. Each door the child had passed, there was a name engraved on the plate. From the far right, she had noticed a staircase that led upward. She started to wander again, after reaching the floor that was above her before. From the far left, there was a stairway, she was about to go over there when she heard something.

"Eh? Kiddo?" She felt a sudden change in the atmosphere, when that toddler came out of nowhere. As if it was a contagious disease, instantly the curious girl was feeling strangely depressed. Her stomach was full of gloom too, for some reason. "Kiddo is sad? Why?"

_Chocolate bed hair, sleepless caramel eyes and is being followed by low spirits. His tiredly attention is at me, the concentration he had earlier seemed to have disappeared. I took a few steps toward him, but he was unable to move. He then fell down backwards, not out of fright, but because of his legs had no more strength left in them. That was when I pulled him off the floor and into my arms. His expression changed a little, it seemed to have a bit more emotion to it, besides the sleepiness. _

Their search for relief had to start at the first floor, she thought. So she carried him down the stairs, where they began to look. However, instead of finding what they were looking for, she noticed that there was a doorway not that far from them. She turned the doorknob and pushed through, there were rows of tables and benches everywhere. Strangely, there was an instant sigh she heard closely to her ear, it came the cute toddler.

"Sen-oneechan will find it for kiddo. Because it gives kiddo, his happiness." His expression had softened even more, as if he knew what the she was talking about. She wanted to smile back at him, to let him know that she was someone he could believe in. To have hope in greatly, the kid liked the idea of being depended on. "When you are sad, I am sad. If you were happy, then I will be happy."

_After that small talk we had earlier, he was acting like a koala, that was clinging onto me as if I were a tree. At first it was alright, until he began to grab a handful of hair and violently pulled it. He then had his other hand holding tightly onto my shirt, while trying to keep himself from falling off. I ended up falling down and landing on my back, with the koala bear safely in my arms._

She felt the toddler pushing her arms away from him, as he started to walk toward something that looked brown and furry. He pulled it out of the flower pot and into his hands, then he hugged it. Apparently the teddy bear was his happiness, he had been missing it for so long. By then he fell asleep with his teddy bear by his side, while the child carried him back into the main hallway.

"Bedtime, when is it? Right now?" the kid began to yawn, before rubbing her eyes. She went up the stairs, and had continued to keep going until she was at the top. On that floor, she noticed the plates on the doors did not have anything engraved on them. "How much sleep did I get before being taken away? Why is it so hard to remember?"

_At the end of the hallway in the top floor of the building, there were curtains that were covering up the window. I decided to open one of the doors __at my left __without a name on the plates after I got a good glance outside, only to find the room quite dusty and old. My first impression was to leave immediately, but instead I went inside and sat on the only furniture there. I put myself and him in bed right after, while pulling the bed sheets over us. It felt cold at first, having to sleep in this bedroom, but at least I am not sleeping outside in complete darkness._

However, the child was unable to fall asleep, no matter how tired she was. Even with the cute toddler beside her, she was worried about her father and herself. Her head was full of it, the random flashbacks and incomplete thoughts. She decided to try and sleep on it again, the confusion and questions until the next day.

* * *

**Disclaimer**: Gakuen Alice belongs to Higuchi Tachibana.


	2. Sen and her first day at the academy

**A/N**: _Gakkyuiincho _is a class representative. In elementary and middle school, the term is shortened to _Iincho_. Often in anime, they wear glasses and have somewhat a pushy attitude, but their intentions are for the good.

* * *

**Sen and her first day at the academy**

_In the end, instead of it being a dream, it was a nightmare. I thought about sleeping a little bit more, before getting up and having to wake up the cute toddler that was still asleep. However, it was quite the opposite. He woke me up by crawling over my body, over and over again. It did get me out of bed. I flapped the bed sheets once or twice before having them placed neatly with his help, after all it was a guest room until I could have my own. _

She left the bedroom, closing the door behind her with the toddler. Her attention was at the window, while the other one was eagerly holding her hand. He was staying beside the child, quietly waiting for her to take to wherever. She shoved the glass out, as the cool breeze came in. Her hair began to waver against the wind, while the arising sun lightly left some warmth on her skin.

"Ahem." the child swung herself with the toddler spinning around a few times, before having to face the familiar voice. It was the robotic housekeeper, Takahashi. "Please change into these, and head down to the cafeteria for breakfast."

"Eh? Is that so?" She took off the plain nightgown that she was given earlier, while trying to put on her new set of clothes with socks and shoes. Her white gown was then neatly folded and was handed to the robot, but it crossed its arms. "Huh? What do you mean?"

"My dear, you are suppose to keep them in your room." the robotic housekeeper explained, while helping the cute toddler get dressed in the same uniform that it gave to the child. "For now, do put it on the table."

"Ah, okay." She said to the little boy with chocolately hair. He never took his taffy eyes off of her, which made the child feel a little guilty. She was only leaving him temporarily, to put her gown on the circular table. "Sen-oneechan is almost done, please wait."

_However, before I could go after them, I had to wipe the dried mud off of my feet. It was probably the reason why the robot left a handkerchief in one of the pockets in the skirt. I spat at it twice, then used the cloth to wash the dirt off. After that, I pulled up my white socks and slipped my feet into the black boots. I hurried down the stairs to the cafeteria, and found them there._

For breakfast she was given a bowl of rice with eggs, an apple and a glass of milk. She decided to sit beside the toddler since there was no one else to sit with, and because they were the only ones there besides the robotic caretaker. He managed to finish off his red apple, while the child was eating his bowl of rice and eggs. They were feeling kind of full, but she forced him to drink his milk down anyways.

"Ah, thank you for the meal. It was very delicious." said the nodding kid, with a drooping boy on her shoulder. She also returned the trays back to the robot, as the other one began to cause trouble for her again. He slid into her arms and made himself comfortable, leaving the other two rolling their eyes. "I think kiddo liked the food too. Don't be selfish, and say thanks."

"His name is Hijiri Yoichi, he is a bit younger than you." Takahashi told the child, while carrying the dishes to the kitchen. She jerked her head up to find the robot still talking to her, as it kept going down in the hallway. "Do be careful with him, he can control ghosts and spirits."

"Ghosts? Spirits?" She twittered, out of surprise. However, her doubts seem to have disappear when she remembered when they met for the first time. He was being followed by sad spirits, indicating he was feeling sad at that time. "How is this possible? I don't understand."

"Nothing is impossible at Alice Academy." the robotic housekeeper explained, as it placed the dirty dishes in the sink. Takahashi started to squeeze the soap out of the bottle, while bubbles and foams appeared when it added water to the soapy sponge.

_After helping Takahashi with washing the dishes, we had to help out with drying and putting them away. Yoichi got himself soaked because he fell into the dirty sink water, so we had to change his clothes. He clung onto me as usual, while we headed to the laundry room. In there, the robot made me hang the damp clothes on the clothesline from the washing machine as __he slept in my arms__. His wet uniform was thrown into the clothes basket, along with my used attire. Takahashi went back to the kitchen to make breakfast for the rest of the children._

Her body managed to fend off the tiredness the she had from the given task, the chore finally ended after the child hung the last soggy clothing. She hustled to the lunchroom to see the robot if she could help with anything else, but instead the kid found a list at the kitchen door. On the list, it said that the first thing to do was to go to school, and so she decided to leave the dormitory.

* * *

"Hey, why is that kid still here?" muttered the teenager with catlike eyes, he was carrying a stack of books up the stairs right behind the person in front of him. He felt like panicking for a second, their mission said nothing like this at all. "Isn't he suppose to be at school, Rui?"

"Who knows, just be quiet!" His arms already felt sore from carrying, the textbooks were going to break them if he had to carry any longer. He turned around and stacked his load onto the catty boy, who was already holding some. "And will you hurry up, I don't want to be yelled at again!"

"What the heck!" Hayate blurted out. He felt itchy, as if it was itching for bruises, scratches and permanent injuries. If only he was allowed to attack his own transvestic partner, Rui, surely the irritating itch would disappeared. "Why do I have to carry yours too!"

"Are you two done?" the bandaged man asked, while bringing a collection of stuffed animals with him. Silence caused them to glared at him, before going back to work again. Their urge to argue and fight will have to wait.

_I thought about going upstairs because there was a familiar voice, but I shrugged it off. Life was never like this, where the sun shone brightly right after a storm, right after this nightmare I am going through. However, I knew that I had enough initiative to keep going forward, there was no way back. Challenge was my favorite difficulty. Because there was nowhere to go if I went backwards.  
_

On the way there the kid met various people, which she had asked for directions. Many were older than her, but their answer varied like not angering a certain teacher and listen to the person that is in charge. None of them gave the child an idea of where the school was at all. A lot of them asked if the cute boy she was carrying was her younger brother, but she shook her head. She walked around mindlessly until a bunch of boys came up to her, and demanded for some sort of money called rabbits that she had never heard of.

"Why would you need money from me?" the child averted her attention from them, she was trying to get away from them in a calm, and patient way. One of the boys however, managed to slip his grip around her while the other ripped the toddler off of the kid. "Are you really that poor?"

"Don't be an idiot! Of course I need money!" the leader of the group had wavy blue hair with curled ends. He pulled out a funky pair of scissors, his eyes were twinkling at the child for some reason. "I need funding for my projects! So cough it up!"

"Man, this girl has no spunk." Her teeth clenched when the quiet kid heard that. She knew something was deterring her back from attacking, but she couldn't figure it out. "Boy, we pick the right kids to pick on."

"Scream, yell, shout and cry all you want!" the leader of the group of boys laughed, and then he squelched the kid with the scissors in his curled hand. He then decided to crush any sort of hope or idea, by precluding that nothing could help her. "No one will save you, so give it up!"

_Snip, snap, they were cutting my green hair senselessly. Chopping it off as if they pleased to, but it was useless to fight back. My strength is not enough to take the three boys, especially when I am at a disadvantage. One after another were budging in front of the other, stealing the strange scissors from each other out of greed to slash the long hair._

Suddenly_, _ghastly beings were attacking the naughty boys. Her lifeless body was thrown onto the ground, unable to get up by itself. She heard a horrible shrieking, the terror of the ghosts and ghouls that were clashing their bodies at the guys. Takahashi was right. Such transparent souls were under the manipulation of Yoichi, the child thought. Although it was blurry for her to see, the shortest and still standing resembled the cute boy very much. She heard the ghostly beings hovering behind the blurry figure, and then everything turned black.

"Are you alright?" She tilted her head to the left, to see who was talking to her. His beige hair was short, his eyes were almost closed and he seemed fairly tall from where she was laying. She was about to get up, when there was an instant strain while lifting herself. "Do not push yourself, it'll hurt you more."

"Ow.." the child heaved, when the toddler came over to sit on her squishy stomach. She managed to get her back off the ground, but his weight made it somewhat painful for her to stand up properly. He was squeezing her tightly, similar to when he hugged his teddy bear.

"Are you lost?" the gentle man uttered, before straightening his posture. He then had his right hand out for her to reach, she gladly accepted the offer and was pulled off the ground immediately with the cute boy in her arms. "We should hurry, or else."

"Or else what?" the kid clutched onto his hand, tightening the grip when she spoke. He just smiled, their conversation was about his power and how it enabled him to travel through time, future, past or present. "Can we go to school, together?"

_Apparently, Alice Academy was a campus surrounded by four forests. D__ormitories and schools existed there, and special classes too.__ Takahashi was the robotic housekeeper of the elementary dormitory, who had to take care of getting everyone to bed and getting breakfast ready for them.__ And in the middle of the academy, there was a downtown and a nearby hospital. Alice Academy, still did not sound like wonderland to me. _

In front of her was the door to the classroom, the child had to swallow her fear down her throat before making an attempt. She was about to reach for the handle, the nice man pulled his hand away from her and took the toddler down the hallway. Her heart cracked a little, it was at ease before. It was until, a teacher came out in a odd outfit that made her regain control of her own body. She trembled at the sight of the young, wavy blond man, the kid backed away shyly.

"Eh? Who is this?" Behind him, was the sound of fun, laughter and smiles. She strolled over to take a peek in the little space between the door and the teacher, her eyes widened to see such a disaster instead. "What's wrong? Are you lost?"

"Um, that's the new transferred student." He quickly adjusted his glasses and tighten his ponytail, he seemed embarrassed. For awhile there was a long silence between the three of them when he appeared, so the man with black hair decided to introduce himself. His name was Fukutan, and he was substituting Narumi-sensei. "Uh, and this is your homeroom teacher."

* * *

"Let's introduce you to the class, shall we?" the two teachers went back inside again with her, after having a long discussion about the child. Her classmates hurried back into their seats, she took notice of the obedience that they had towards authority. "Everyone, we have a new student."

"Higashi Sen." the kid said very bluntly, without emphasis or emotion. She realized that her introduction was simple, but plain and inhuman after bowing. However, she felt that revealing anything about herself might cause trouble somehow. "Please look after me."

_Soon there was a wave of questions at me, everybody wanted to know everything for no reason. Like when they asked how old I was, I told them I just turned eight, and they were very surprised because I was quite tall for my age. Or what was my blood type, they even asked where I was from. One of the girls came up to me and said my hair looked strange, I really wanted to tell her why that was, but I ended up choking on my words. Curiosity was drowning me, in this foreign sea. _

Sen was then assigned to a foxing classmate, Kitsuneme, temporarily as her partner until further notice. She sauntered over to sit beside him, his eyes still following her. His friend, Kokoroyomi, sat in between them right after their homeroom teacher left. He explained that the school's buddy system was created to protect their partner and learn from each other. Together, they also have the right to know and go into their personal lives if they wanted to. Having to be involved with people and their lives would intertwine with hers personally, she sat there feeling tired from that thought.

"Aren't you going to show me around the school?" Sen reminded him. She was kind of hoping to make some friends. If they were to walk around, maybe his buddies would ask him to introduce her to them. Or something like that, the kid thought. "Or at least show me where the bathroom is?"

"Nope! I don't want to!" Grinning away like a fox, he was still expecting more from her. However, her facial expression did not change, it stayed the same. His disappointment went somewhere else, since the frown turned upside down. "We're going to go play now! Bye!"

"How are you doing, Higashi-san?" said a student with hair of an ecru color, and glasses that shielded his orange eyes. He stood there beside her desk, while the other two were behind them, playing cards and laughing. "Higashi-san?"

"Why is he smiling, so casually?" Kokoroyomi imitated right out of her mind. He was reading her thoughts out loud, while doing hand gestures and making a curious tone. "Is he making fun of me?"

_Before the homeroom teacher left, he winked at me when the class representative put a backpack on my desk. He apologized a few times, then ran off in embarrassment while the other students made fun of him. Of course after they got bored of of the Iincho, and so their next target was me, the new transferred student. I knew that they were bullying others to be part of their plan to make me react to their torments, and throughout the whole day, I went over to those who were forced to suffer and __out of guilt I apologized to them__. My school backpack also had to bear the burden of getting constantly dirtied, soaked, crashed and thrashed around with me._

Sen was feeling miserable, her first day at school was terrible. Many of her classmates used their previous observation and judgment to understand the child. Their standards seemed to be based off the norm, which had been influenced from somewhere. Her popularity worsened, when the majority of them were put in situations that made them uncomfortable. She missed homeschooling, especially her family, who had taught her everything.

* * *

"Eat some dessert already, my dear." Takahashi reminded the child, who was staring at the yellow custard. It had chocolate sauce at the bottom and a bit on the top of the pudding. However, she put the spoon in her mouth and slouched backwards. "Are you trying to savour it imaginably?"

"I don't know, but it hurts." Sen moved her plate of homemade pudding aside, she then whipped out a workbook and some utensils from her backpack. I need to practice this and that, was her first thought. "Maybe after doing some homework."

"Let me fix your hair, it looks awful." the robot rushed over with a pair of scissors and began snipping bits and pieces off. In a few minutes, it was done which made the child feel relieved. "You had such nice hair before, but this will have to do."

"Eh? I did?" she ran her fingers through her short hair, trying to remember the feeling of the long hair. Sen liked the haircut very much, it had been a long time since she had one. She decided not to count the one before, and had forgotten about it completely.

_Having to come back to the dormitory right after school, there was no time to horseplay or complain. Once in awhile, Takahashi would come over to check on me, and time to time I told her about my first day of school. At first, when the robot heard about those, __she wanted to get back at them,__ but I said it was unnecessary. Takahashi came back with a few hair accessories and decorations related stuff that were left behind. __Being left by myself again, I worked diligently until everything was finished._

Sen gathered her things, as she slowly made her way up the stairs and to her room. On the way there, she started to eat the pudding that the robotic caretaker had given her. When the child got to her door, it was already slightly opened. Sen crept into the bedroom, only to find it filled up with her belongings from home. She gazed at them, mesmerizing and remembering everything. Her heart demanded to touch everything, and so she took it patiently to look over if it was true. Sen dropped her backpack and her empty plate when she came to the bed.

"Someone has been sleeping in my bed." the kid muttered, the tone had little surprise and shock. For some reason, the sight of it seemed so familiar and that she had the urge to wake the thing up.

* * *

**Disclaimer**: Gakuen Alice belongs to Higuchi Tachibana.


	3. Natsume and his thoughts

**A/N**: _Jinbei_ are a pair of matching top and shorts, which are usually worn by men and boys at home. It is also used as a substitute for a yukata during the summertime, and at the summer festivals. Traditionally they are dyed blue or green.

* * *

**Natsume and his thoughts**

"Oh! Shit!" the person who sleeping in the bed, had blurted out. He felt that it should have been the opposite, the kid was supposed to be the one overreacting and him, being effortlessly cool in the situation. "I'm not suppose to be here!"

"Were you the one who brought it all here?" the child asked, with her head leaning on her left shoulder. Somehow her curiosity had made the fear disappear from within, and she approached the sleeper without hesitating. "Hayate? Is that your name?"

"Yeah, Matsudaira Hayate." He had cattiness in his body and eyes, especially when his stretching involved doing catlike movement. Like how he drooped over his knees in a sitting position and extending his arms further. "I didn't do it all by myself, there were others."

_I was about to ask him about the their reasons about the kidnap, but his body started to twitch. Suddenly, the door was forced to open in a burst and there was a moment of silence. After that, there was a lot of action between the two intruders like how they trample through my bed, whacking things off the desk and table, etc. I had to dodge their attacks, save my things from breaking and being a mediator for the two. Hayate managed to flee by pushing the window, hopefully landing somewhere safe while the other, who was Takahashi, kept on yelling at him until she could not see him._

Sen collected the empty plates of pudding and cake, thinking that Hayate had some before he fell asleep, as she left her room to put them away. Takahashi trailed after her to explain some rules when they are in the dormitory, the first few were about having visitors after curfew and eating a midnight snack were not allowed. She listened well, but her head was filled up with questions that were left unanswered still. Sen went back to her room when the lecture was over, feeling tired from everything that had happened.

"Did I forget anything?" Hayate moaned, his injuries were not serious, but it did hurt. Having to jump from a building with three or more floors was not smart. However landing onto a tree, and then to a bush made the fall a little less painful than he had expected. "Where is the darn thing!?"

"Looking for this?" a darker shadow was cast over him, he took a glance to see who it was. At that point, he should have took the opportunity to snatch the thing back. His partner slyly wore a grin that pissed him off, so much that he was willing to use his power. "Who were you going to give this to?"

"No one in peculiar, Rui!" He thought it was embarrassing, to lose something that was so important to him to that person. The stone was blue, the same color of blue of his favorite from the beautiful soldiers of five colors. "So give it back to me, or else!"

"Nobara made it, didn't she?" Rui smirked back, with his hands on his cheeks. He began to act like a fangirl, swaying back and forth excitedly of the idea. His face was also somewhat flushed about it as well. "Gosh, she's so cute!"

* * *

_Yoichi was in my bedroom again, sleeping beside me with his teddy bear in his arms. He was in his pajamas, which were a pattern of bears from top to bottom, compared to mine which were a pair of jinbei. __ His sleeping face was babyish, in a cute way. I need to lock the door more often, or something like this will happen again. And it was probably my fault for not reminding him to take his teddy bear back, I must take responsibility. _

She finished changing into her school uniform after having her last thought, when he woke up and decided to get out of bed to beg. Sen ignored it as they hurried to his room to switch into the proper clothes for school. At first she let him do it by himself, but he had some trouble getting into his red plaid shorts. She was about to go back to her room to give back his teddy bear, but Yoichi pulled her fingers to the direction of the cafeteria. Sen wanted to resist the boy, but instead she assumed he was hungry and went along with it.

"Apple juice and rice with cooked seaweed on top, yummy!" the happy child smiled, but when she saw his meal, it was different. Yoichi was also wearing a star on the collar of his uniform, it made her think for a bit. "Orange juice, cereal with milk and a slice of buttered toast, huh?"

"Oh, Yo-chan has a star now." said someone behind her, she turned around to see Kitsuneme nudging his friend. Kokoroyomi and him took their trays to sit down at the opposite side of the table. "Sucks to be you, Sen-baka."

"It's not like I asked to be starless." Sen murmured to herself, while sipping her apple juice until there was no more. She then went to finish off her bowl of rice and cooked seaweed without another complaint. "Does the star thing has to do something with status?"

"Well, teachers usually assign your star level, depending on your performance in your academics, alice and attitude." Kokoroyomi explained, as he took the buttered toast from his friend's plate. He took a bite, before the hungry boy spoke. "Higher the star level is, the more benefits and privileges they get."

_When the four of us had finished breakfast, we went to school together without making fun of each other. Well, it was more like Kitsuneme was teasing me while Kokoroyomi played along whenever he felt like it, and Yoichi had was being babied by the three of us. However, after entering the classroom with them, they went their separate ways. I sat in my seat by myself, observing my surroundings. Yoichi, he ran off to play with a pretty boy with blonde hair while the other two were hanging out with another boy who had raven hair._

Sen sat there feeling bored, she watched her classmates do foolish things like tormenting the substitute teacher and causing trouble for others as a form of entertainment. One of the girls were almost at the verge of tears, she went over to disrupt their fun. Of course the mean boys and girls used their alices at her, but her facial expression stayed the same. Most of them felt intimidated by her emotionless face, and the victims were left alone for the rest of the period. Sen walked back to her seat, again bored, when a sudden group of boys came up to her.

"Hey, Higashi." said Mochiage, he was the bald one with the telekinesis alice. He crowed around his friends to discuss about their plan, reassuring what they were going to say to the girl, who was waiting borely for them. "Let's play a game, it'll be fun."

"What kind of a game?" Kokoroyomi repeated, right out of her head. He decided to sit beside Sen, by sliding down from the opposite end of the bench while slightly nudging her when it came to a stop. "Is there an off and on button for you when it comes to reading minds?"

"Well, what you do is you have to write down ten reasons why you dislike a certain person." Kitsuneme told her. His smiley face appeared to be more mischievous than yesterday, she thought. "Of course, we get to choose who is this certain person. We picked Natsume, because we want to know why you hate him so much."

"So it's like getting to know the other person, I see." Sen excitedly answered, she gave them high fives for the idea. After that the group of boys huddled together with wide smirks, muttering away about the possible success coming out of it. "It sounds like fun, but who is Natsume?"

_In front of me is the boy that I have to write about, who I don't really dislike at all, but they shooed me over to him anyways. I was supposed to strike up a conversation with Natsume, so that I could get to know him better. It sounded like a good idea, but he was unwilling to talk to me, and instead this girl with two long strands that curled at the end around her face, had popped out of nowhere. She went on and on, nagging me constantly more about herself than him. However, the group of boys managed to get her away from the two of us._

* * *

His comic book fell off of his face, Natsume was about to pick it up when Sen brought a small fireball in her hand. He seemed a little surprised at first, she wanted to smile at him for that. Sen asked Natsume if it was an alice she was presenting to him, but he shrugged it off. She then asked about his alice, which was when he told her that it was fire. Between the two of them was silence that stopped their conversation, Sen felt the topic was going somewhere in a danger zone, so she tried to change the subject. However, his friends came to take her back to her seat with a sheet of paper and pencil in their hands. Natsume covered up his expression with his visual novel, hoping no one had noticed.

"Okay, now that you had your talk with him." Mochiage mentioned, while having her to sit down on the wooden bench. He then slapped down the paper and pencil on the desk, as if he was trying to scare her. "You might as well get it over with, so start writing already."

"I don't know why I dislike him." Kokoroyomi read, right out of her head. He took the time to absorb some other information, as a backup, before reading the next thought. "Are you sure about this?"

"Write down whatever, we will see if you hate him or not." said Kitsuneme. He and his friends surrounded her, they were eager to know her thoughts on the most popular boy in the school, besides Ruka.

* * *

"My ten reasons why I dislike Hyuuga Natsume." Sen announced to herself, although her head was still not in good shape when it came to decisions and opinions. "If I be modest about it, then maybe I won't get into trouble this time."

1._ I don't know Natsume very well, so why am I doing this again?  
_

2._ He has this dangerous aura around him, why is that?_

3._ His eyes are red, they are also intimidating at times._

4._ He has a lot of power over the class, it seems like._

5. _I think he exceeds in areas I do not know of, I would like to know them and beat him at it.  
_

6._ His fangirls are scary in general, I have recently met one._

7._ He doesn't have a lot to say, if he talked a bit more, then I might be able to understand him._

8._ His black hair is in good condition, has that sort of gloss and shine like the princesses.  
_

9._ I also think he has a higher status than me when it comes to the star level.  
_

10._ He has his own fan club, I want one too._

_

* * *

_

When I was finished with it, they snatch it from my hands and ran off to show the paper to Natsume. He looked at me, after he done reading my ten reasons why I hate him list. His attention went back to whatever he was doing, but once in a while he would send death glares at his friends, as if he was doing something that he did not want anyone else to know. I stopped observing him, as much he was a mystery box, it was best to leave it to that today. Well until he decided to throw a crumpled up paper ball at me, it bounced off my head and onto my desk. I decided to keep it, and read it later.

Sen was not bothered at school by those bullies, actually they did not bully anyone today. They were too focused on what had went wrong on their plan, so she felt a little better about it. Her teachers were having trouble with assigning her star level, she overheard at lunchtime, because they did not know her alice. And then the bell ranged, Sen hurried off to finish off her day. On her way home, the girl felt tired once again, she didn't know why, but it has been getting to her lately. She kept on thinking, when she suddenly crashed into someone.

"Hey! Watch it!" Hayated shouted, which made Sen fall backwards, of course, out of fright. He angry at first, but then he blinked for a few seconds, before realizing it was her. "Oh! It's kohai!"

"Matsudaira-senpai?" Sen drooped her head as low as her body could keep her standing at the same time. Her stomach was full of embarassment, she couldn't believe that she just did that to her senior. "Sorry about that, I shall keep my head higher next time."

"Whatever, but how is school going for you?" the bashful girl looked at him, her heart sank deep, how could she tell him? Should she tell him that her first day of school was awful, or that today was better than yesterday? "Ah, well, it doesn't matter."

"What is that?" Hayate knew she was talking about the blue alice stone, so he let her hold it. He didn't want to discourage her anymore than what those people were doing in elementary, or so he thought. "It's really pretty."

_"You like it, huh?" Hayate muttered, it was loud enough for me to hear it. But I don't think he noticed that I was listening to him talking to himself. "Say, you want me to make you one?" My heart pounded in joy, I quicklyed nodded to his question. "OK, but it will take a moment, and don't look until I tell you to." I smacked my hands over my eyes, I wanted to ask him how he would do it, but that would ruin the surprise! How exciting, if he were to make something as beautiful as the blue stone that he shown me earlier! "Here, it's bigger than the blue one, but it's a lot uglier."_

In front of her was an olive color sort of stone, the yellowish green was not the most prettiest color she has seen, but it still made her heart leaped out of happiness. She slowly obtained it, making Hayate feeling somewhat nervous. Sen then thanked him for his generosity, she would remembered this moment well. After that, the two of them walked back to the elementary dormitory where he said his goodnight and went off somewhere else. Sen went back to her room, with an alice stone in her hand, where she slept peacefully for once at Alice Academy.

* * *

**Disclaimer**: Gakuen Alice belongs to Higuchi Tachibana.


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